STOCKTON - Proving there is strength in numbers, the Big Valley Track and Field Club is winning medals and representing Stockton in a positive way.

The merger of four area youth track clubs, Big Valley recently won the overall scoring title, came home with numerous medals and set about a half-dozen meet records at the Amateur Athletic Union West Coast Regionals in Reno. Later this month, as many as 47 athletes ages 4 to 18 will board vans provided by Big Valley Ford of Stockton and head to Des Moines, Iowa, for the AAU Nationals. And 7-year-old Jordan Lee will go to the nationals after competing in the USA Olympics in Humble, Texas.

"I just like to run and compete," said Lee, who set a meet record of 6 minutes, 13 seconds in the 1,500 meters in Reno. "It felt great to set the record. It felt like I was an inspiration to different people."

Some of Big Valley's highlights in Reno included Cameron Fields winning three goal medals, Jamar Marshall and Isaiah Woods breaking the record in the 100 hurdles, the 9-10-year-old girls setting a record in the 400 relay and Jadyn Marshall setting a record in the 80 hurdles.

The youngsters are coached by a dozen or so volunteers, whose areas of expertise cover nearly every track and field event. The club formed this year when Big Valley, the Saints, Team Zoom and Dynasty joined forces. They hope to be sanctioned by the AAU as Stockton United or a similar name next year.

The club, which has had as many as 122 members, is a melting pot of kids and adults from nearly every part of Stockton and Manteca. They not only assist and support each other, they learn from one another.

"It helps you socially. You get to talk to a lot of kids of different ethnicities, different personalities," said Woods, a 13-year-old who will compete in several events at the AAU Nationals on July 28-Aug. 2 before he enters the eighth grade at Discovery Charter in Tracy. "It's a good, diverse group."

Sharli'e McCuller, a 10-year-old who attends Van Buren Elementary, isn't a native Stocktonian. She moved from Mississippi with her family when she was about a year old after Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast in August 2005. Former Stockton city councilman Ralph White helped the family with the move and set them up in a home on 11th Street in south Stockton. McCuller's role model is Wilma Rudolph, who sprinted to three gold medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. McCuller is one of the top sprinters in the country in her age group and will compete in Iowa.

Jessica Brewer, who will be a freshman this fall at Lincoln, competed in gymnastics for 10 years, as well as other sports. She's in her third year in track and will compete in the 100 hurdles, pentathlon, high jump, long jump and 200-meter run in Iowa.

"I like (Big Valley) because there are more people to talk to when you go to an event," Brewer said. "And I like track because I can get outside and run, and it's an easy way to get rid of my energy,"

Emosi Raura, one of the coaches for Big Valley, said the club's mission is to provide young people with a constructive option to a sedentary or gang-related lifestyle.

"Our main vision is to keep kids off the streets because we understand here that from 3 (p.m.) to 6 (p.m.) every day, kids are left alone or in the hands of others, or involved in gangs, drugs or sex, you name it," he said. "This is a program that wants to spearhead kids into being better Stocktonians."